New fire chief tops selectmen’s goals

The number one goal for the board of selectmen during the upcoming fiscal year is to hire and acclimate a fire chief, said select board chairman Stan Moss at the Aug. 12 meeting.

“Our main goal for FY13 was to hire a full-time fire chief, which we did,” said Moss. “Unfortunately that unraveled.”

David Cobb, the town’s first fire chief, resigned last year after he was charged with stealing drugs from the town’s ambulance.

The new chief will not necessarily be a full-time position, Moss said.

The next step would be to set goals for the department. Moss said people from different committees and departments would conduct a strategic assessment of the current fire/EMS/emergency management system and set goals for the department’s future development.

Last year, a goal was to do the Green Repair and PCB projects at the Thomas Prince School. “We want to close that out,’’ said Moss. Selectmen will continue to support the Road Advisory Committee’s efforts to include the East Princeton/Route 140 project in the Central Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Improvement Plan.

They also agreed to continue to implement recommendations of the auditor, advance a facilities study of town-owned buildings, continue with disposing of unproductive town-owned assets as market conditions dictate, continue with performance evaluations for the town administrator, facilitate the transition to a regional emergency dispatch system with Holden and support the Broadband Committee’s planning and potential implementation of a townowned high-speed Internet system.

Selectman Edith Morgan questioned how the board could support something the board hasn’t seen yet. “We haven’t seen exactly what it’s going to cost,” she added.

“I don’t want people to think this is ready to go before they have a chance to see a plan,” said selectman Neil Sulmasy.

Long-term goals include supporting the Wachusett Regional School District’s efforts, particularly STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics] to address the declining enrollment at Thomas Prince School. “I talked with assistant principal Karen Baer who said staff is in training sessions with Worcester Polytechnic Institute right now. They are excited and are embracing it,” he added.

“I’m thrilled about the whole situation,” Morgan said.

Other long-term goals include supporting the Road Advisory Committee’s efforts to develop and implement a long-term plan to make improvements to both major numbered routes and local roads, continue to examine and address issues concerning unfunded liabilities, create a long-term plan for the town hall campus, public safety facilities and Princeton Center, investigate the consolidation of stipend-based positions into the part-time and full-time employee infrastructure, dispose of unproductive town-owned assets as market conditions dictate and evaluate opportunities to regionalize municipal services as they appear.